Why Representation Matters: Chinese New Year Cards
A LIFELONG PASSION FOR MAKING CARDS
When I first started making stationery, I was just a little girl having fun. I used construction paper and crafts supplies to make all kinds of random things - birthday cards for my parents, sleepover party invitations for my friends, fake letters of admission from Hogwarts… you name it. I made things for myself - but what I really loved was making for other people. I found that creating from the heart was incredibly fulfilling, and this a way I showed love to others.
Over the years, cards & stationery have become “my thing.” My parents know to expect cards at their birthdays every year, and many a close friend has received a handmade card for a special occasion.
And yet - the first time I ever made a card in Chinese was just two years ago. I had this idea to make a birthday card for my Dad in Mandarin. This happened when I was twenty-five years old - and I had been creating cards since I was six or seven.
So why did it take so long for me to dream up the idea of creating in Chinese - my mother tongue?
It’s hard to pinpoint one reason. Maybe it was because I never felt confident enough to do Mandarin calligraphy (true). Maybe it was because designing in English just feels more “first nature” to me (also true).
Or maybe it was because designing in Chinese just never occurred to me.
LACK OF diversity & REPRESENTATION
As a child, I never saw different languages or cultures being celebrated on TV or in school, much less in the card aisle at Target. And this may not seem like a big deal, but it really matters - because when I started making cards, I modeled my creations after what I saw and experienced around me.
You see - even though I speak Mandarin, look Chinese, and grew up in a Taiwanese immigrant household - as soon as I stepped outside my parents’ house, I became American. All my life, I’ve gone to public school and made friends with kids whose families were born and raised here. Every day, I listen to American music and consume American news. I buy American brands and stalk American celebrities on Instagram.
And so even though my parents and I have spoken Mandarin to each other every day of my life, not once did it occur to me to that I could design a card in Mandarin until just two years ago.
MY MISSION AS A GREETING CARD DESIGNER
When I launched this little stationery business, I had to dig deep to find what motivates me. This is what I realized:
Stationery is a way for me to share love with others.
Stationery is a way to fill a void that I didn’t realize I had growing up.
I love creating stationery, and I love paper goods. And with these passions, I now feel called to carve out a space in this world to connect people like me, who grew up without seeing themselves represented - and who never thought to create that representation for themselves. Until now.
This year, I created my first ever Chinese New Year greeting cards to celebrate the Year of the Ox.
MAKING CHINESE NEW YEAR CARDS
I’ll be straight up - making this card was a humbling experience. I’m pretty rusty at writing Mandarin, so I had to ask my mom to help with the Chinese characters. In fact, I asked her for a whole lot of help - I asked her about Chinese door designs, I asked her about hanging banners called “dui lian” (which my card is modeled after), I even asked her about common phrases and well wishes at the New Year.
What I’m coming to realize is that I’m still a work in progress. I’m American, but I’m also Asian. And I’m still learning to embrace my mixed roots - especially my Taiwanese roots - and OK with who I am.
I created these Chinese New Year Cards because I wanted to create for someone like me. Someone who grew up as a third culture kid. Someone whose parents might still identify as immigrants, even though they’ve now lived in this country for most of their lives. Someone who comes from a messy yet beautiful mix of cultures and traditions - who has sometimes felt that they are living two sides of the same coin - and who may sometimes feel alone in the journey.
I’m still ON the journey to find out what drives me as a designer - but even more important, I’m also on the journey to find who I am as a person.
Thanks for being here, and being on this journey. With this stationery venture, I hope to create from the heart. I hope to create things inspired by real people and real stories. And I hope to be brave enough to include some of my own stories in that mix.
With love,